This disclosure is directed to the art of network communications and more particularly to the art of negotiating Quality of Service (QoS) attributes or parameters between network elements. Embodiments will be described in terms of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and a Maximum Bitrate (MBR) attribute or parameter associated with Packet Data Protocol (PDP) contexts and Quality of Service (QoS) levels thereof.
Network communication providers attempt to allocate resources to maximize efficiency. For example, in UMTS networks, there is an effort to allocate only the appropriate bandwidth for any particular communication session. The appropriateness of a particular bandwidth allocation is determined based on a Quality of Service level subscribed for by a communication service subscriber and the needs of a particular communications application. For instance, e-mail and messaging traffic may need a lower Quality of Service (i.e., bitrate) than do voice or video communication sessions. Additionally, in order to conserve network resources so that the resources can be allocated to subscribers who have paid for, or are willing to pay for, high bandwidth, it is important that subscribers that do not need, or are unwilling to pay for, broadband communication are not allocated network resources beyond those that are necessary to provide the communication services that are required or subscribed for.
Part of the process of allocating appropriate resources is a negotiation between network components to establish an agreement about communication attributes or parameters associated with a particular communication session.
In UMTS networks, one of those attributes or parameters is a Maximum Bitrate (MBR). There is a Maximum Bitrate associated with an uplink (e.g., from a mobile device to a mobile communications network) and a second Maximum Bitrate associated with a downlink (from the mobile communications network to the mobile device). MBR attributes define a data rate upper limit associated with a Quality of Service level subscribed for by a subscriber. Guaranteed Bitrates (GBR) define lower limits for the Quality of Service level.
This disclosure is directed toward systems and methods for a portion of the negotiation process related to the Uplink and Downlink (UL, DL) MBR attributes or parameters. However, these processes are similar and will be described collectively. Maximum Bitrate (MBR) values will be referred to. It is to be understood that the described procedures are applied equally well to Uplink (UL) and Downlink (DL) MBR values.
Currently, MBR negotiations are not as efficient as they could be. In some instances, when a mobile device or an application running on a mobile device, requests a particular MBR, that request is simply granted or accommodated. For example, some systems do not verify that the requested MBR is within a subscribed for range of allowable MBRs. If the requested MBR is a supported MBR, that is, the requested MBR has the value of a Maximum Bitrate that associated network components can comply with, the network accepts or grants the requested MBR, and a communications session is established in association with that MBR. If the requested MBR does not exactly coincide with a network-supported MBR, or does not match a value in a set of available MBRs, some systems respond by offering to provide communication services in association with the closest available MBR or a next higher supported MBR. This results in an inefficient use of network resources because resources are allocated that are either not required for the present communication session or that have not, or will not, be paid for.
In other networks, when a requested MBR does not exactly match a value in a set of available or network-supported MBRs, the requested communication service associated therewith is simply rejected or declined. Clearly, the subscriber finds this undesirable because a desired communication service is not provided. Additionally, the communication service provider finds this undesirable because revenue that the communication service would have generated is not collected.
In still other systems, a lengthy trial and error negotiation is carried out wherein alternative MBRs are offered and rejected in a series of messages between network elements and the mobile device. This results in longer call set-up times and an inefficient use of control networks.
Therefore, there is desire for a system and method for determining an optimal MBR value to be used in response to a requested MBR.